iFly announced its plans for the Boeing 737 MAX line for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
The announcement was made on publisher Flight One Software’s Discord Server, and the developer specifies that what you’ll find below are current plans and are possibly subject to change.
First of all, a “Service Pack 1” update for the current 737 MAX 8 is in development, and it’ll include the following changes.
- All new tablet style EFB (Electronic Flight Bag). See the attached image.,
- CPDLC via the Hoppie API for services such as VATSIM or IVAO; (BATC and SayIntentions are also being looked into as they utilize the Hoppie API).,
- Cabin voice announcements (with and without GSX).,
- MAX8-200 model with additional functioning emergency exits, which are also reflected on the overhead panel.,
- Visual APU model.,
- Main wheel well model expansion.,
- Updated fuselage exterior model with new details, such as added rivets and additional details.,
- Redrawn cabin material, with additional details.,
- Multiple cabin layouts (166, 178, 189, 197 seats).,
- Updated cockpit materials: more details to differentiate between different material types (see the attached image).,
- Redrawn landing gear material – closer to the real aircraft.,
- General bug fixes including LNAV adjustments in some scenarios.,
- Other tweaks and bug fixes not listed here that may arise prior to SP1.
The developer added that the changes haven’t reached the beta testing phase and won’t be released in the next three months, but we did get a couple of screenshots portraying the new EFB and the new flight deck materials.
We also hear that the SP1 will be the last thing iFly will develop for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. After its release, the old simulator will be abandoned, besides a few possible small patches for the MAX 8, and the developer will focus exclusively on MSFS 2024.
The reason is that “structural differences between MSFS 2020 and 2024 are too vast and extremely time and labor-consuming to develop for both.”
The good news is that iFly intends to take advantage of all the new technologies included in MSFS 2024 going forward.
On top of that, we also learn that the developer is planning the 737 MAX 9 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 only, and will consider the MAX 10 and MAX 7 only after these are certified and enter service in the real world.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and Microsoft Flight Simulator is also available for the same platforms. If you want to see the massive visual difference between the two, you can enjoy our video and screenshot comparison.
X-Plane 12 is currently available for PC and mobile platforms.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest roundup article from yesterday.
If you want to go further back, we have a handy overview video of the major flight simulation news in the past week. You can watch it below.
